Trump under fire from rivals for rally violence

Chicago : Donald Trump is under fire from rivals who blamed his incendiary rhetoric for a violent outbreak Friday between protestors and supporters at the Republican frontrunner's rally in Chicago.

Trump cancelled the event after demonstrators scuffled with his supporters and police struggled to maintain order, with hundreds of protesters showing up.

"When you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, when you have a campaign that is facing allegations of physical violence against members of the press, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discord," Trump's main rival for the Republican nomination, Ted Cruz, told reporters.

Throngs of protesters, many of them blacks and Latinos angered by Trump's incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric, had massed outside and inside the venue in Chicago, mingling with the candidate's supporters.

Pundits said the chaos at the rally was reminiscent of violent protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, also in Chicago, held when the United States was torn apart by opposing views on the Vietnam War.

A Trump rally scheduled for Sunday in Cincinnati, Ohio has also been cancelled, with the local spokesman for the campaign telling US media that Secret Service supporting the campaign could not complete preparation work in time.

CNN estimated there were between 8,500 to 10,000 people in the arena in Chicago when tensions erupted into chaos.

The billionaire said he decided to call off the gathering after consulting with police in the city, where tensions had been rising for hours in the build-up to the event at a sporting arena at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"I don't want to see anybody hurt," Trump told CNN afterwards. "I think we made the right decision (to cancel)... even though our freedom of speech was violated."

The chaos ended several hours later, but not before members of the crowd threw bottles and other objects at officers, and several tried to take the stage and speak at the podium.

One sign held by a protester inside the arena said "We are not rapists," referring to Trump's characterization last year of Mexicans as rapists.